‘People often say to me: to let go of that melancholy – at your age and with your talent it’s a shame! But everyone forgets that in addition to (perhaps) being a talented musician I am also a man who expects the same things from life as everyone else.’

Rachmaninov represents the waning of Romanticism in Russia yet, even by Russian standards, he was extremely fatalistic. His three one-act operas with libretti based on writings by Pushkin and Dante are linked by their theme: fate follows in the footsteps of sin, whether it be a matter of jealous murder, greed or illicit passion.

This triptych is a production of la Monnaie and is conducted by Mikhail Tatarnikov and directed by Kirsten Dehlholm.

Cast (Aleko):
- Aleko: Kostas Smoriginas
- Young gypsy: Sergey Semishkur
- Old gypsy: Alexander Vassiliev
- Zemfira: Anna Nechaeva
- Gypsy woman: Yaroslava Kozina

Cast (The Miserly Knight):
- Baron: Sergei Leiferkus
- Albert, his son: Dmitry Golovnin
- The Duke: Ilya Silchukov
- Money lender: Alexander Kravets
- Servant: Alexander Vassiliev

Cast (Francesca da Rimini):
- Lancelotto: Malatesta Dimitris Tiliakos
- Francesca, his wife: Anna Nechaeva
- Paolo, his brother: Sergey Semishkur
- Virgil’s shade: Alexander Vassiliev
- Dante: Dmitry Golovnin

Booklet: FR / ENGL / NL